Markets in North America bounced higher on Tuesday, as Greece approached the deadline to make its 1.6-billion-euro ($2.2-billion ) debt payment to the International Monetary Fund.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 63.18 points to close Tuesday at 14,553.53, after a collapse of more than 300 points Monday.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.58 cents to 80.17 cents U.S.
Canadian markets are to be shuttered Wednesday for Canada Day.
Health-care issues led the gainers, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals ahead $4.78, or 1.8%, to $277.64.
Real-estate stocks moved north, as Artis REIT units advanced 33 cents, or 2.5%, to $13.71, and Dream Unlimited Corp. gained 22 cents, or 2.2%, to $9.69
Telecoms moved higher, with Rogers Communications boosted 75 cents, or 1.7%, to $44.30, and TELUS taking on 58 cents, or 1.4%, to $43.03.
Metals and mining suffered the biggest losses, as Teck Resources hesitated 47 cents, or 3.7%, to $12.38, and First Quantum Minerals slid 54 cents, or 3.2%, to $16.33.
Although talks are still ongoing, there are indications Greece will not make its debt payment.
Markets are likely to be volatile all week, leading up to the July 5 referendum. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has recommended his people reject EU demands, which would cut pensions and boost taxes
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada’s said our Gross Domestic Product edged down 0.1% in April, the fourth consecutive monthly decline. A decrease in the output of goods-producing industries outweighed an increase in service industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.4 points to 670.19.
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher on the day, as health-care stocks were haler by 2.7%, real-estate stocks moved up 1.2%, and telecoms improved 1%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by metals and mining, down 2.3%, global base metals, down 1.5%, and gold, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday in a slight recovery from the worst trading day of the year, as investors remained on edge amid the imminent Greece repayment deadline to the International Monetary Fund.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 23.16 points to 17,627.98.
The Dow closed about 1.1% lower for the first half of the year and posted a 0.89% loss for the second quarter.
The S&P 500 index stayed positive 5.44 points to 2,063.08. The S&P 500 posted its smallest gain on record (going back to 1928) for the first half of the year, up just 0.2%
The NASDAQ moved upward 28.4 points to 4,986.87, up 5.3% for the year so far and up 1.8% for the second quarter, boosted by a surge in the NASDAQ iShares biotechnology ETF (IBB) and gains in Apple.
In corporate news, Apple launched its music streaming service on Tuesday. The stock is up 13.6% year-to-date.
Towers Watson will merge with British reinsurance firm Willis Group in an all-stock merger. Towers Watson shareholders will get about 2.65 Willis shares for each share they now hold, plus a one-time dividend of $4.87 U.S. per share in cash. The combined company will be called Willis Towers Watson.
Celgene will invest about $1 billion U.S. in Juno. The two will form a partnership to develop treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
ConAgra, the company behind brands such as Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, and Hunt's, matched Street estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 59 cents U.S. per share, though revenue was below forecasts. ConAgra also said it was taking a new approach to increasing profit margins, and as part of its new strategy, it will pursue a divestiture of its private label business.
The consumer confidence index topped expectations with a 101.4 read for June. Earlier, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index showed a 4.9% rise in April.
The Chicago purchasing mangers' index missed expectations and came in below the key 50 level at 49.4.
Greece faces a 1.5-billion-euro ($1.7-billion U.S.) payment due to the International Monetary Fund at midnight Tuesday. The prime minister said the government will seek a viable solution until the end and aims to stay in the euro, Reuters reported.
The Greek government also issued a statement saying it has prepared a two-year agreement with the euro-zone bailout fund in order to cover its financing needs, Dow Jones reported.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell back, raising yields to 2.35% from Monday’s 2.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 62 cents a barrel to $58.95 U.S.
Gold prices lost $7.20 at $1,171.80 U.S. an ounce.
